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A Tale of Two Rings
Tolkien disliked assumptions that he had written The Lord of the Rings in direct reaction to World War II, but he took greater umbrage at comparisons to Wagner's Ring Cycle and that his world of fantasy was merely a repackaging of Wagner's four famous operas. In a letter to his editor, Tolkien wrote of the comparison, "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases."(5) Personal dislike aside, the comparisons are unavoidable and have been the subject of many academic essays and research. Although the philosophic motivation for these two epics did differ, the themes, motifs, and experiential feel of these grand epochal narratives are highly resonant. The theme of incredible power concentrated in a ring, the appropriation of Norse mythology, the moral trials of the ring's original possessor, and the joyous, surprising, ending after a battle between light and dark forces are all there in both narratives.
Equally important, the feel and imagery of Wagner's ring bears resemblance to The Lord of the Rings. The orchestrations of these operas are heavy, dense, and at times bombastic. The onstage singers are burdened with breastplates, horns, and armor. One leaves an opera house drained, exhausted and inspired as the condensed angst and brooding of witnessing the apotheosis of man in his overcoming of teutonic Godhead is quite a burdensome spectacle. Interestingly, Wagner initiated and completed his operatic tetrology in an entire Saturn cycle, conceptualizing the operatic cycle as Saturn conjoined his natal Pluto placement in 1848 (see chart) and premiering his masterpiece at the Bayreuth Festival in August of 1876 as Saturn "returns" within orb of its original placement. (see chart) (6)
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